Four sailors for WYA National squad

Congratulations to Amy Bale, Tom Bale, Daisy Lee-Browne and Ewan Luke who have all four been offered places in the WYA National RS Feva squad. All of these junior sailors have been training hard this season, and will now have the chance to represent Wales at competitions throughout the UK in the coming year.

Many of our Prep and junior sailors start sailing in the school’s fleet of RS Teras. These single-handed dinghies are ideal for learning the basics of sailing, and there are many opportunities for racing. All our junior sailors have competed this year in events including the Tera Northern Championships in the Isle of Man, and the Tera Nationals at Weymouth, and through the summer, many competed for their clubs. The progression on to the double-handed RS Feva is the next step in their sailing careers. For these four sailors, their places in the WYA National RS Feva Squad will ensure that they get the best possible training and experience in the coming year.

Training for the RS Feva National Squad will take place mostly at Plas Menai and Pwllheli, and will continue throughout the winter. The aim is to compete next year in a wide range of competitions including the RS Feva Grand Prix events, the Inland Championships and the National Championships.

The squad will be trained by our school sailing coach, Mr Max Todd, supported by Mr Andy Bale and Master in Charge of Sailing, Mr Julian Noad. Mr Todd has long experience of competing with the WYA squads – he started his sailing career in the Welsh National Topper Squad at the age of 11. As a pupil at Rydal School, he started sailing double-handed with Hugh Humphreys, and the two were soon picked for the Hobie 405 National Squad. As winners of the General Handicap Fleet at the Welsh Zones, the pair were spotted by the High Performance manager and moved into a 29er. Sailing a 29er, the pair won the National Championships in 2005, the Europeans in 2006 and came 4th in the Worlds in 2006 (2nd youth boat). They then moved into a 49er and were accepted on to the Olympic Development Squad.

Since 2010, when he stopped sailing competitively, Mr Todd has taken his instructing qualifications, and we are delighted that he is now back at Rydal Penrhos, hopefully coaching some stars of the future. Good luck to all four sailors for the winter training and competitions next year.